Unit | Biostatistics

The Biostatistics unit engages in collaborative, basic and applied statistical research in the fields of epidemiology, parasitology and infection biology. Primary areas of applications involve malaria, anaemia, neglected diseases, HIV, mortality, cancer and environmental epidemiology. Research is mainly funded by Swiss National Foundation (SNSF), Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and a European research Council (ERC) Advance Grant.

Major areas of methodological research

  • Spatio-temporal modelling for disease burden estimation and surveillance
  • Diagnostic error evaluation
  • Cohort data modelling
  • Exposure modelling
  • Causal inference
  • Meta analysis
  • Bayesian computation

Services

The unit leads Swiss TPH's scientific support services. This service is provided in collaboration with the Public Health Computing group and includes consulting for study design, data management support, statistical analysis, consulting in the fields of biomathematics and bioinformatics, and software development. Clients come from within Swiss TPH and externally. Read more about our Data Services
 

Teaching

The unit is also heavily engaged in teaching Statistics and Epidemiology to medical undergraduates, MSc students and PhD students, both in curricular courses of the University of Basel and in external courses. The Unit is involved in Swiss Master of Public Health Programme, European Course in Tropical Epidemiology and Postgraduate Programme for University Professionals in Insurance Medicine.

Statistics and Epidemiology Teaching

Statistics and epidemiology teaching is provided within the programs of the University of Basel. Within this program we organise the following courses:

Latest Publications

Alidou S et al. Risk factors associated with urogenital schistosomiasis: a multilevel assessment approach using an Oversampling Schistosomiasis Survey (SOS) community-based, Plateaux region, Togo 2022. BMJ Public Health. 2025;3(1):e001304. DOI: 10.1136/bmjph-2024-001304

Ciurea A et al. Differences in the response to TNF inhibitors at distinct joint locations in patients with psoriatic arthritis: results from nine European registries. Arthritis Res Ther. 2025;27:18. DOI: 10.1186/s13075-025-03488-w

Corpening B et al. Associations between ambient pollen exposure and measures of cognitive performance. Environ Epidemiol. 2025;9(2):e374. DOI: 10.1097/ee9.0000000000000374

Isaiah P.M, Nyawanda B, Okoyo C, Oloo J.O, Steinmann P. Schistosomiasis status and health impact in preschool-aged children in hard-to-reach areas and populations of Homa Bay County, Kenya. Acta Trop. 2025;261(107511). DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2024.107511

Isaiah P.M, Nyawanda B, Okoyo C, Steinmann P. Kato-Katz versus urine POC-CCA for the diagnosis of Schistosoma mansoni in preschool-aged children in Homa Bay County, Kenya. Parasitol Res. 2025;124(2):25. DOI: 10.1007/s00436-025-08467-3